A random assortment of posts about stuff in the news, entertainment, things that interest me and maybe an occasional opinion.

It's About Time

September 5, 2012

At long last the new Centro Transit Hub has finally opened....I will present my opinions of it (mostly positive) but first here is some of what was reported by the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Centro opened its new $18.8 million downtown bus transfer station this
morning to a few complaints about late buses and compliments about how
clean and bright the new space is.

"Folks are unfamiliar with the lay of the land," said Frank Kobliski,
the executive director of Centro. "We had a lot of questions we had to
answer. On the whole, we are very, very pleased."

The Centro Transit Hub replaces the former transfer point at South
Salina and East Fayette streets, where for decades riders waited outside
for buses on crowded city sidewalks and streets.

The new hub, three blocks south on Salina at East Adams Street, is
fully covered and allows 22 buses at a time to pull into bays to pick up
riders. The station also has digital screens that display the arrival
time and bay number for each bus line.

Okay....I'll get my gripes out of the way first. There are for entrances into the hub....2 on the south end at Adams Street and 2 on the north end, next to a parking garage off of Harrison Street. It is the northern end entrances that present a problem because there are no traffic signals....this means that buses entering or exiting the facility have to wait for traffic to let them turn. This happened to the bus I rode to the hub.

Leaving was a lot easier.

I don't know what can be done to improve the situation but something needs to happen or else there are going to be a lot of late buses...even more than usual. Granted, it was the first day of operations so one can only hope that they will work out the kinks.

One more shortcoming: Centro needs to install some digial clocks....large digital clocks that can be easily seen throughout the hub. Right now the only clocks they have are at the bottom of their electronic signs.

One thing that apparently recieved a lot of complaints will be resolved: not enough seating. However, Centro will install 30 extra chairs in the center waiting area. This will definitely be a welcome improvement.

So much for the complaints.....now for the compliments. The hub is laid out quite well and is easy to navigate. A map of the facility can be obtained at the information booth and diagrams are also posted.

There is also an indoor waiting area where bus riders will be able to stay warm or cool (depending on the weather) during longer waiting times to make a transfer.

Restrooms and water fountains are also available and there is security 24/7....plus the entire facility is very well lit so this should make riders feel safe, especially at night.

It is nice to be able to wait for a bus without having to contend with rain, snow or intense sunshine, not to mention no longer having to cross the street to make the bus connection or scrambling to see where the bus is in the lineup....we now have the convenience of a permanent dedicated departure bay for every bus line.

After decades of catching buses at South Salina and Fayette streets, it will take people a while to get used to the new Transfer Hub but I firmly believe that when Winter rolls around, they will be quite happy to make their transfers out of the elements. I know I will!

August 25, 2012

Back in May I posted this about the work that was being done on Martineau Park, which is just a few yards from my home and I realized today that I never followed up on the progress of the spruce-up. What reminded me was this article that appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard earlier this month. It read, in part:

It’s dry.

It’s dry in Eastwood, and one morning recently neighbors of Martineau Park, a tiny triangle of city land at Sunnycrest Drive and Caleb Avenue, were signing up for watering duty. “I’ll take Tuesday,” one of them volunteers.

Watering the 0.076 acres is just one of the ways the neighborhood in southeast Eastwood has adopted the bit of greenery they used to call the “Poop Park,” because it was such a mess. Folks thought nothing of letting their pets relieve themselves there.

Two apartment houses that front the park weren’t much better, by neighbors’ accounts.

“The cops were there a lot,” according to Realtor Jan Nastri, whose company, Nastri Realty, bought the apartments last year.

That was the start of the “rebirth” of the park, according to one of the neighbors, Rachael Perkins, who moved back into the city after years in the suburbs.

“I liked the hum of city life,” she explained.

The neighborhood suited her, except the apartments and the park; both of them, she said, had been neglected.

Things have changed around Martineau during the past year, mostly with the help of Nader Maroun, the 5th District councilor, who’s serving his second term on the Common Council. Nader, a Navy veteran who’s retired, does not seem to be afraid of getting his hands dirty.

Martineau now has a complete makeover, including beds of flowers, park benches, a sign (Nader Maroun took the name from a Parks Department listing), a new sidewalk (on the south side, replacing a broken-up walkway on the park’s north); solar lights, planters and even a new evergreen that’s to be decorated for Christmas.

Martineau Park certainly has become a very nice part of the neighborhood and here are some pictures to prove it.

A new sidewalk:

Benches:

Flower planters:

A picnic table:

The Evergreen tree that will be decorated for Christmas:

A view of Martineau Park from the end of my street:

Granted, it's no Central Park....but this is a very nice improvement over what it was and Martineau Park is a welcome spot in the neighborhood!

August 24, 2012

As a life-long bus rider (going back to when the buses were operated by Syracuse Transit), I will be delighted when the new Centro Transit Hub in downtown Syracuse opens soon. No more waiting out in the rain and snow. No more having to look down the line of buses to see if the one I need to take is indeed in the lineup...each bus route will have it's own dedicated departure bay. No more having to dodge all the cigarette smoke. And, with any luck, no more avoiding the street preachers. As the Syracuse Post-Standard reports:

Starting next month, Central New York bus riders won’t be able to
smoke a cigarette and will be discouraged from having a snack while
waiting for their bus at the new Centro Transit Hub in downtown
Syracuse.

But for the first time, they’ll be able to wait for a bus indoors, out of the snow, rain and sun.

Security guards will patrol Centro’s new $18.8 million facility day
and night. In the indoor waiting room, there will be public restrooms
and chairs.

Centro officials, along with local politicians, will officially cut
the ribbon at 1:30 p.m. today on the new hub, a facility that’s been
planned for more than a decade as passengers waited for buses outdoors
in America’s snowiest city. Buses and riders will begin using the new
hub Sept. 4.

May 20, 2012

I can't say that this news gives me great joy but it does give me great satisfaction. This horrible act of terrorism brought great pain to the Syracuse community that is still felt here to this day.

Photo courtesy The Syracuse Post-Standard (www.syracuse.com)

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, died at home in Tripoli Sunday, nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison to the outrage of the relatives of the attack's 270 victims. He was 60.

Scotland released al-Megrahi on Aug. 20, 2009, on compassionate grounds to let him return home to die after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. At the time, doctors predicted he had only three months to live.

Anger over the release was further stoked by the hero's welcome he received on his arrival in Libya - and by subsequent allegations that London had sought his release to preserve business interests in the oil-rich North African nation, strongly denied by the British and Scottish governments.

Al-Megrahi insisted he was innocent, but he kept a strict silence after his release, living in the family villa surrounded by high walls in a posh Tripoli neighborhood, mostly bedridden or taking a few steps with a cane. Libyan authorities sealed him off from public access. When the one-year anniversary of his release passed, some who visited him said al-Megrahi bitterly mused that the world was rooting for him to die.

His son, Khaled al-Megrahi, confirmed that he died in Tripoli in a telephone interview but hung up before giving more details.

Saad Nasser al-Megrahi, a relative and a member of the ruling National Transitional Council, said al-Megrahi's health had seriously deteriorated in recent days and he died of cancer-related complications.

Among those killed in the Pan Am bombing were 35 Syracuse University students, one Colgate University student, two students from Oswego State, and a couple from Clay

April 3, 2012

Looks like Rochester, NY will indeed be the winner of the Golden Snowball Award this year, with Syracuse in second place for a change. This photo from 9wsyr.com shows the snow totals as of today, April 3rd, and Rochester leads the race by six and a half inches of the white stuff.

photo courtesy of 9wsyr.com

Of course, Mother Nature has been known to throw some curveballs our way, including the infamous Mother's Day snowstorm of 1996, so I hope I'm not jinxing things....but here's hoping the Golden Snowball Award is getting a new home!

March 13, 2012

Back on February 14 I shared this post about how Rochester was on track to defeat Syracuse in the race for the Goldn Snowball Award. It is now March 13 and it still looks like that will happen. At the moment, however, that race is stalled by Mother Nature's apparent inability to remember that it is still Winter.

As I type this, the temperature in Syracuse is 61 degrees with a precicted high temperature of 67 degrees. Yesterday we set a record with a high temperature of 68 degrees and one local meteorologist is saying that this warming trend could last for another 2 weeks. Syracuse could very well have the least snowy Winter on record if this continues and I'm sure that Rochester is in the same situation.

Yesterday's Syracuse Post-Standard published this article which contained the following information:

Mark Hare, a metropolitan columnist for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, is a student of the cruel late-season history of baseball. Told Sunday that his city might finally wrest away the Golden Snowball from Syracuse, Hare responded with a baseball parallel.

“I don’t know,” he said. “To me, it has the feel of a Red Sox collapse. It’s like you’re ahead by six games on Sept. 1, and everything looks good ...”

And then — say it ain’t so — Syracuse gets a foot of snow.

That hardly seemed probable Sunday, with the Clinton Square ice rink turned into one big puddle. Rochester, at 56.1 inches, had the most seasonal snowfall of any big city in the state. Syracuse, once behind by more than a foot, remained within striking distance at 50.6. Binghamton was at 42.8 inches and Buffalo at 35.1, while New York City — which piled up more than 60 inches a year ago — had a grand total of 7.4 inches.

Could the Golden Snowball finally leave Syracuse City Hall? That was the idea when it was created nine years ago by Rosanne Anthony, owner of the A-1 Trophy shop on the North Side. “I figured if you were going to have the kind of winters we have,” Anthony said, “you might as well have fun with it.”

She envisioned a little presentation every spring, where the mayor of the new state champion would accept the trophy. What she didn’t anticipate was a hometown dynasty. Since 2002 — when Buffalo had the most snow of any big city in New York — Syracuse has blown away the competition. Last winter was especially impressive: We had 179 inches of snow, the most snowfall for any large city in North America.

This year, everything turned upside-down. To finish off a winter of remarkably modest Upstate snowfall, the forecast for March is unusually mild, according to Jon Hitchcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Buffalo. “For the next two weeks, it looks very warm with no chance of snow,” Hitchcock said.

While that doesn’t preclude snow in April or even May — anyone who had a kid in Little League will recall the April storm of 2007 that pushed back opening day — it certainly makes a Rochester victory seem likely.

I think it's about time for Rochester to share the honor of being a Golden Snow Ball winner - and just to share the wealth, maybe next year they can pass it on to Buffalo.

February 14, 2012

According to the calendar, it is Winter but here in Syracuse, NY this year you would hardly know it. We have had a mild Winter, to say the least. In fact, we have had the least amount of snowfall ever for the season at 36.2 inches so far. 3 feet. That's it. Not that I am complaining, mind you. Last Winter we had just over 172 inches of snow - a little more than 14 feet of the white stuff. Another Winter that gave Syracuse the honor of winning the Golden Snowball Award.

Syracuse, NY – Usually, the odds of Syracuse losing the Golden Snowball are as long as a snowball’s survival in Hades.

But Syracuse could be in danger of losing the trophy awarded to the big Upstate New York city that receives the most snow in a single season.

The lake-effect snowstorm that hit the Finger Lakes region Sunday dumped 10.3 inches of snow on Rochester through midnight, according to the National Weather Service. That brought Rochester’s seasonal total to 41.1 inches, vaulting the city past Syracuse.

Syracuse Hancock International Airport received a measly 3.3 inches from the storm, bringing the seasonal total at Syracuse’s official weather station to 36.2 inches.

“That was a little shocking,” said Patrick DeCoursey, the Fremont resident who runs GoldenSnowball.com, referring to Rochester’s charge. The website keeps tabs on snowfall for the five cities in the contest.

As far as I am concerned, they can have it! After all, we shouldn't be greedy and hog the award every year. Right?

February 6, 2012

I promised myself at the beginning of the year that I was going to post here more often. I am writing this on the evening of February 6th, 2012 so I guess I've failed somewhat at keeping that resolution. I am going to do my best to blog more often.

The reason for doing this particular post is that I discovered that I can record a video through Facebook and then embed it to this blog. I thought that I would give it a try and see how it works out. The video and audio quality are not the greatest but that's what happens when you buy a web cam at Rite-Aid....swear!

February 7, 2012 UPDATE:

I embedded a video from Facebook last night....and then managed to delete it, sending it to forever reside with the missing socks from the dryer. In the meantime, I found that I could record videos with my web cam on YouTube - and in better quality than the ones I do on Facebook. I've decided that instread of doing another video from there, I'll stick with YouTube so here is my first test video:

August 29, 2011

I may be earning some bad Karma for saying this but I really hope this is true and that he is suffering. I live in Syracuse, NY and on December 21, 1988 Pam Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky, killing all on board and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. 35 of those who died were Syracuse University foreign exchange students and 4 others from Central NY also died in the bombing. This was a terrible shock to the community and the tragic event is observed every year on the SU campus.

Word is that Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the convicted bomber, is near death from prostate cancer. You will remember that he was released from a British prison in 2009 because supposedly had only 3 months to live. It's been a lot more than 3 months and to be toally honest, I am skeptical about the current reports of his imminent demise - especially since this news comes so soon after the downfall of former Lybian dictator Muammar Gaddafi. To me, the timing just seems a little suspect. But maybe the reports are true.

For what it is worth, I am sharing the following news story:

CNN’s Nic Robertson is an extremely well regarded reporter especially in areas of war and intense conflict. This weekend he reinforced his reputation by tracking down Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, also known as the convicted bomber of PanAm flight 103, who was found responsible for the deaths 270 individuals when the jetliner crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland. al-Megrahi was found in a coma, surrounded by family and in a lavish compound.

Two years ago, al-Megrahi had been giving a “compassionate” release from British prison and allowed to return to Libya; the convicted bomber had developed prostate cancer and was expected to only live another three months. Because he was still alive, some suggested that his medical ills were some sort of ruse, and that his release was inappropriate. In fact, the British government admitted in a report that it was a mistake to release the convicted bomber at all.

So in the past few weeks as the Gaddafi regime had been toppled by NATO supported rebels, many in the media openly wondered whatever became of al-Megrahi, many suggesting that the was actually quite healthy and probably had fled. So kudos to Robertson for actually tracking down the convicted bomber and finding him in a state that appears to be very near death.

August 22, 2011

Burger King has let those of us who are creeped out by their King mascot have it our way.

A popular king has been dethroned in a whopper of a marketing move.

The Burger King mascot - the iconic, almost-creepy character with the oversized head who never said a word or changed expression - will no longer reign over the fast food chain's TV commercials, the company announced Friday.

A new national ad campaign is being rolled out Saturday that focuses on Burger King's latest menu item, the California Whopper.

June 25, 2011

Last night New York became the sixth state to legalize gay marriage....and was the first to do so without a court fight forcing the legislation. I, for one, am happy to see this happen.

What I am NOT happy about is seeing all the ignorance and hate posted on news sites by people who will never open their minds and realize that this was the right thing to do. They are blinded by their religious beliefs and by fear. This is very sad. Read some the comments here.

I am straight and delighted to see the LGBT community finally win their civil rights in my state. The passage of this law does NOT mean that there will now be demands for the right to marry animals....this is one of the arguments against gay marriage that opponents try to push. And don't give me that crap about this being a mockery of the "sanctity" of marriage. There have been countless straight people (interestingly enough, many who preach "family values") who have made a mockery of the sanctity of marriage. Enough said.

Congratulations to Governor Andrew Cuomo for pushing to get ths law passed. We can only hope that other states will follow NY into the 21st Century.